Dirigible headlight for automobiles.



H. P. GOW.

DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.27| 1913.

Pa tentedAug. 10 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

awuamoz Ji P 2920.-

H. P. GOW.

DIRIGIBLE HEADLIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.27| 1913.

Patented Aug. 10, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HENRY P. GOW, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

DIRIG-IBLE HEADLIGHT FOR AUTOMOBILES.

niaaew.

Specification of Letters Batent.

Patented Aug. 1%, 1%15;

Application filed December 27, 1913. Serial No. 808,975.

I To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY P. Gow, citizenof the United States, residing in the city and county of Denver andState of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in.Dirigible Headlights for Automobiles; and I do declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and usethe same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

My invention relates to improvements in dirigible headlights forautomobiles, my object being to provide a simple and practicableconstruction, whereby the lamps are pivotally mounted upon the forwardportion of the frame and may be controlled or manipulated to correspondto the course of the vehicle, and thus light may be maintainedcontinuously upon the road, whether the said vehicle is turning a curveor traveling upon a straight track. This is of the utmost importance,since under ordinary conditions when the lamps are rigidly mounted thelight will conform to the course of themachine only as long as themachine is running upon a straight road and when a curve is turned thelight is thrown outwardly or to one side of the road on the sideopposite that toward which the machine is directed, whereby that portionof the road immediately in front of the machine is left in completedarkness and serious accidents may occur because of hidden obstacles.

An important feature of my invention is that the lamps may be mounted asfar for ward upon the frame bars as may be desired, since the fittingsupon which the said lamps are mounted can be made to conform to anycurve which the-frame bars may assume, and thus the forward curvedportions of the frame bars to which the sprifisare ing of myconstruction.

Another important feature of my invention is that no matter upon whatportion of the bars the lamps may be mounted, the latter can always beadjusted to assume a vertical'position, or one inclined to thevertical," which latter position may at times be'very advantageous,considering the speed at which the vehicle is traveling.

Still another feature of my invention is that the posts which supportthe lamps are. mounted under tension, thus reducin the vibration towhich the lamps are sub1ected to the minimum, and at the same timeproviding means whereby any looseness that may become apparent in thebearings can be taken up by turning a nut threaded upon the lowerextremities of said posts.

Having briefly outlined my improved construction, I will proceed todescribe the same in detail, reference being made to the accompanyingdrawing, in which is illustrated an embodiment thereof.

In this drawing: Figure 1 is atop plan view of the front part of theframe-work and running gear of an automobile equipped with my improveddirigible headlight 'construction. Fig. 2 is a section taken on the line22, Fig. 1, looking toward the left. Fig. 3 is a section taken on theline 33, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow, the parts,however, being shown on a larger scale. Fig. i is an enlarged view ofthe manner in which one of the lamps is mounted looking in the directionof the arrow 4, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken on the line5-5, Fig. 4,1ooking in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 6 is a detailview of the fitting or bracket employed looking in the direction of thearrow 6, Fig. 4.

The same reference characters indicate the same parts in all the views.

Let the numeral 5 designateeach of the frame bars of an automobile bodyupon the forward portions of which are mounted integral fittings orbrackets 6, each consisting of a base plate 7, having ears 8, 9 and 10,the ears 8 and 9 extending in opposite directions from each other, whilethe ear 10 is bent to form a right angle with the said base plate 7 Thecars 8 and 9 are perforated and adapted to be secured to the uppersurface of the frame bar by suitable fastening attached present noobstacle to the mountuneans 11. The ear 10 is alsoperforated able iron,whereby the base plate 7 may be bent to conform to' any curve or inclinewhich the frame bars may present and it is this feature of my inventionwhich makes it practicable to mount the lamps as far forward upon thesaid frame bars as may be desired.

Projecting upwardly and forming a right angle with the base plate 7 ofeach bracket is a disk 14, reinforced by a rib 13, the said diskoccupying a position directly inside of the frame bars 5 and in a planeparallel with the vertical plane of said bars. This disk 14 has twoelongated slots 15 formed therein, the said slots being curved toconform with the periphery of the disk. These slots register withsimilarly formed slots 16 in a disk 17, the said slots adapted toreceive bolts 18, the heads of which bear against the outer surface ofthe disk 14, while their free extremities project beyond the innersurface of the disk 17, and have nuts 19 threaded thereon, the said nutsadapted to be securely held against the inner surface of the said disk17 when the lamps are in the de sired position.

It is by virtue of this construction, as will more fully hereinafterappear, that the lamps may always be supported in a vertical position,or one inclined to the vertical, within a reasonable range, regardlessof the incline upon which the bracket 6 is mounted.

Formed integral with the disk 17 and sup ported thereby is a sleeve 20,the inner surface of the said sleeve at its upper extremities beingbeveled as shown at 21. Inserted within the sleeve 20 and extendingbelow the same is a post having a conical portion 23 which is seatedinto the beveled extremity of the sleeve, whereby a cone bearing isformed upon which the post 22 may be r0- tated. Formed integral with thesaid post near its upper extremity and flared away from the latter is apart 24 projecting beyond and below the upper extremity of the sleeve20, thus forming a hood or dust cap for the cone bearing.

The post 22 at its upper extremity is provided with a horizontallydisposed plate 25, the opposite extremities of which are perforated toreceive the lower extremities of spaced forks 26 which are bent inwardlyat 2 and downwardly at 27, whereby said lower extremities will projectbelow the plate 25. Nuts 28 are threaded upon these extremities and areadapted to bear against the under surface of the plate 25 for securingthe forks 26 in the desired position.

Each pair of forks is connected by a reach or arm 29, semi-circular inshape, and enlarged at its extremities as shown at 30, said enlargedextremities being perforated d adapted to fit over the said forks 26. Atapproximately half way between their extremities, each reach or arm, isprovided with a rearwardly extending lug 31, which is inserted betweenthe bifurcated extremities of a connecting rod 32. Each lug 31 has aperforation therein which is adapted to register with openings formed inthe said bifurcated extremities of the rod and bolts or other suitablefastening means 33 are passed therethrough for rigidly securing the sametogether.

The interior sleeve 20 is enlarged at its lower extremity, as shown at34, whereby a shoulder 35 is formed therein. The lower extremity of thepost 22 which extends below the said sleeve is threaded to receive a nut36, which supports a washer 37. Located within the enlarged portion 34of the sleeve is a coil spring 38, one extremity of which bears againstthe shoulder 35 of the sleeve 20, while its opposite extremity restsupon the washer 37 mounted upon the post 22.

It can be readily seen from the foregoing description that the lamp post22 is mounted under tension, and the degree of tension may be increasedor lessened by screwing the nut 36 up and down as the occasion mayrequire.

To the lower threaded extremity of the post 22 below the nut 36 issecured a crankarm 39, the engaging extremity of said crank-arm beingheld in place by a nut 40 which is applied to said threaded extremity.The opposite extremity of the crank-arm 39 is pivotally connected by aball and socket joint, as shown at 41, with the forward extremity of arearwardly extending rod 42, whose rear extremity is pivotally connectedas shown at 43 with a crank-arm 44, fast on a shaft 45, having a wormgear connection 46, with the steering post 47 of the machine. Thecrank-arm 44 is also connected in operative relation and in the usualmanner, as shown at 48, with the rear extremity of a forwardly extendingrod 49, whose forward extremity is pivotally connected as shown at 50with a crank-arm 51 connected as shown at 52 in operative relation withthe forward wheels 53 of the automobile for turning the same forsteering purposes as the steering post 47 is operated.

The pivotal connection 43 of the rod 42 with the crank-arm 44 ismaintained by two metal straps 54, one applied to each side of thecrank-arm 44 and extending forwardly and rearwardly from the latter,said extensions being bent toward each other at 55 and secured togetherby suitable fastening means 56. The forward extremities of the metalstraps 54 are again bent outwardly to receive the rear extremity of therod 42 which is pivotally mounted therein upon a bolt 57 passed throughregistering perforations formed in the rear extremity of the rod 42 andthe forward extremities of the metal straps 54.

From the foregoing description my im operated, the shaft 45, by virtueof its operative connection (not shown in detail because it is old inthe art) with the steering post 47, will be rotated and the wheels ofthe machine will be turned for steering purposes. Simultaneously withthe operation of the wheels 53 of the vehicle for steering purposes, thelamps will be correspondingly shifted by virtue of the connectionheretofore explained between the crank-arm 44 of the shaft 45 and thecrank-arm 39 of one of the posts 22 of the lamp-holder, through themedium of the rod 42, together with the rod 32 which connects therespective sets of forks upon which the lamps are fitted.

It will also be readily understood from the foregoing description thatby loosening the nuts 19 the disk 17 may be turned upon the disk 14 byvirtue of the registering elongated slots therein, until the lamp is inthe desired position, when the nuts 19 are again tightened and the lamprigidly secured in a vertical position, or one inclined thereto, as maybe desired. Heretofore, in

so far as I am aware, the supports for lamps of this character couldonly be mounted upon the straight portions of the frame bars, since ifthey were mounted upon a curved part of the same thelamps would besupported at an angle to the vertical, which fact under mostcircumstances would render the said lamps practically useless. However,as before mentioned, under certain conditions it may be advisable to tipthe lamps at an angle to the vertical, but this is certainly not trueunder ordinary conditions, and when a condition arises which makes suchan adjustment necessary, my lamps may be moved to the desired position,as heretofore explained.

Attention is also called to the fact that semi-circular arms or reaches'29 not only provide means whereby the lamps may be turned in unison,but perform the very important function of bracing the forks 26, therebyproviding additional security for retaining the said forks in thedesired position.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

' 1. The combination with a frame of an automobile, of a member mountedthereon comprising a base plate and a part projecting upwardlytherefrom, said part provided with elongated slots, supporting meansalso having elongated slots therein and adapted to engage the upwardlyprojecting part of the base plate in such a manner that their slotsregister, and securing means passed through said slots for the purposeset forth. I

2. The combination with the frame of an automobile, of a bracket mountedthereon, including an upwardly projecting disk, said disk being providedwith slots, supporting means also having slots therein and adapted toengage the disk so that their respective slots will register, andsecuring means passed through said slots for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY P. sow.

Witnesses:

L. HALL, A. EBERT OBRIEN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for'flve cents each, by addressingthe commissioner of Patents, eshflngton, D. Q.

